Box Score
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - It was a case of too much too early, and too little too late in today's football game between the #10 Bethel Royals and the #3 St. Thomas Tommies. St. Thomas emerged from Royal Stadium with a 23-13 victory over the hosting Bethel squad.
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - It was a case of too much too early, and too little too late in today's football game between the #10 Bethel Royals and the #3 St. Thomas Tommies. St. Thomas emerged from Royal Stadium with a 23-13 victory over the hosting Bethel squad.
On an incredible fall day, St. Thomas received the opening kickoff and came out firing on offense, but the Royals defense was ready. On the opening drive
David Vavra (Sr., Cambridge, Minn.) picked off a deep throw by Tommie quarterback Dakota Tracy at the Bethel 2-yard line.
From there, the Royals managed to get out to the 16-yard line before being forced to punt. The offense was hard pressed to move the ball against the 10th ranked defense in the country for most of the first half. The Royals earned just one more first down in the first quarter and were unsuccessful on a pair of fourth-and-short conversion bids in the first half.
With under three minutes to play in the second quarter the Royals found themselves down 17-0. The third time was a charm as Bethel struck pay dirt on a fourth down play when
Josh Aakre (Sr., Dawson, Minn.) found
Reese Walker (Jr., Independence, Minn.) for a 33-yard touchdown pass down the left side, breaking a scoreless streak imposed by the Tommie defense that had lasted more than two games.
The Tommies countered quickly and kicked a field goal with 6-seconds remaining in the half to extend their lead. This made the score 20-7 going into halftime, but the touchdown gave the Royals some momentum and the Bethel contingent of the estimated 5,842 fans in attendance something to cheer about.
Coming out of halftime the defense bolted down and the offense was able to move the ball much better. The Royals found the end zone for the second time when Aakre scrambled in from 11 yards out on a quarterback keeper midway through the third quarter. The ensuing extra point was blocked and the score was 20-13 in favor of the Tommies.
Unfortunately, the Royals were unable to add to their points. Bethel drove as far as the Tommie 25-yard line late in the fourth quarter before the drive was halted by an interception in the end zone.
The defense continued to hold St. Thomas out of the end zone for the entire second half, something no other team had been able to do all season. The Tommies only points in the second half came off of a field goal late in the game to make the score 23-13.
On offense the Royals had 300 total yards on 64 plays.
Josh Aakre completed 13 of his 26 pass attempts for 163 yards and a touchdown. Aakre was also the leading rusher for the Royals with 76 net yards on 13 carries including a big 49-yard run in the second half.
Jesse Phenow (So., Richfield, Minn.) had 51 rushing yards and added 30 yards receiving for the Royals.
Brandon Marquardt (Fr., Champlin, Minn.) was the Royals leading receiver with 52 yards on 3 catches and also added value in the return game with three kickoff returns for 43 yards. Walker finished with two catches for 40 yards and a touchdown.
The Royals defense played outstanding for most of the game only allowing the Tommies to gain 335 yards on 66 plays – more than 100 yards short of their season average per game entering the contest.
Seth Mathis (So., Anoka, Minn.) was the Royals leading tackler with 14 total tackles and a pass break up. Vavra ended up with eight total tackles and an interception.
Mitch Hallstrom (Eden Prairie, Minn.) recorded six total tackles, pulled down an interception, had a key 18-yard punt return, and made an 8-yard reception on third and long deep in Tommie territory to help preserve Bethel's second scoring drive..
The 5-2 Royals will look to rebound next week as they travel to Moorhead and take on the Concordia Cobbers. Concordia is 5-2 as well with their only losses coming to Saint John's and St. Thomas.
